Disney pulling back on making Marvel, Star Wars content, Iger says
Disney is slowing down when it comes to making movies and TV series for its Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm franchises, CEO Bob Iger said on CNBC Thursday.
The move comes as the company is looking to cut costs during a time when its recent films, from Marvel to animation, have underwhelmed at the box office.
“You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less,” Iger said Thursday.
Earlier this year, Disney rolled out a broad reorganization of the business that included $5.5 billion in cutting close, of which $3 billion would be slashed from content excluding sports.
Iger said Thursday that a lot of decisions were made to prop up the company’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, and beckon more customers.
While also noting that Disney had some Pixar animation misses in recent months, he called out Marvel as being a particular example of the company’s “zeal” to pump up its original content on streaming.
“Marvel is a great example of that. It had not been in the television business at any significant level, and not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of TV series,” said Iger. “Frankly, it diluted focus and attention.”
Disney acquired Marvel for more than $4 billion in 2009, and the franchise has since grossed billions of dollars at the global box office for the company.
Disney CEO Bob Iger speaking with CNBC’s David Faber at the Allen&Co. Annual Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Earlier this year, Iger had said the company needed to assess how many sequels each character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe should spur, and it was time to explore “newness” for the brand. He added there was “nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand” at an investor conference.
Earlier this year, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” debuted as the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, kicking off the fifth phase of the 15-year old franchise. The film had seen the sharpest decline in ticket sales from its opening weekend to second weekend in franchise history. The Marvel installment also raked in mixed to negative reviews.
Meanwhile, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has done much better, grossing over $800 million globally.
On the Lucasfilm front, there hasn’t been a Star Wars film in theaters since 2019, and the company has focused primarily on series, such as Emmy nominees “Andor” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi” for Disney+. Lucasfilm’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth film in that franchise, has underwhelmed at the box office despite a plum release date around the Fourth of July.
Still, similar to Marvel, Lucasfilm has been provided a well of revenue for Disney.
The company bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for about $4 billion, and recouped its investment in just six years after a lucrative new trilogy of films, along with standalone films such as “Rogue One.”
For Disney, and most of its streaming competitors, original content has lived solely on its flagship streaming services rather than being licensed to other platforms – a revenue driver that has stood up the traditional TV and movie business for sometime.
On Thursday, Iger said it was “a possibility” that could happen for Disney’s streaming content.
“It’s a possibility. I won’t rule it out,” Iger said. He added that licensing had been part of a collection of models that formed the traditional TV business, and holding back content for their own platform in the early days of streaming was the right move.
Recently, Warner Bros. Discovery has reportedly been in talks about licensing HBO content to other platforms, including Netflix. The company also has removed content from its Max service and licensed it to free, ad-supported streaming platforms such as Fox Corp.’s Tubi.
Disney has also followed suit in taking down content from its streaming platform.
Britt Lower and Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Source: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is now available on Android devices as the iPhone maker on Wednesday released its video streaming service for Google’s mobile computing platform.
It’s unusual for Apple to release Android apps. The company typically focuses on software for its own iOS and MacOS platforms, but Wednesday’s release is the latest sign that Apple won’t be limiting the growth potential of its Services division by keeping popular services like Apple TV+ exclusive to its own devices.
More people have iPhones than Android phones in the U.S., but globally, Android claims a 72% market share, according to Statcounter. Releasing Android apps significantly expands Apple’s market.
Apple’s Services business is its second largest behind iPhone sales, and Services hit a $100 billion per year revenue rate last year. In addition to subscriptions like iCloud, the unit also includes sales from advertising, search deals with Google, AppleCare warranties and payment fees from Apple Pay.
Apple TV+ is among Apple’s most popular services, and it’s best known for shows like “Ted Lasso” and “Severance.” It also broadcasts Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.
The company has never released viewership numbers for Apple TV+, but Nielsen estimates say it accounts for a small fraction of total American TV watching. It costs $10 per month in the U.S. and is included in several bundles alongside iCloud storage, Apple Music and other subscriptions.
Besides a few niche apps, Apple doesn’t have a long track record of making Android apps. Its last significant services app for the Google platform was a decade ago when the company released its Apple Music streaming service for Android.
The Apple TV+ app is available to download through the Google Play app store, and users will be able to pay with their Google accounts. Apple did not disclose a revenue-sharing arrangement with Google, but both companies typically take about 15% of billings from streaming services through their app stores.
Paradromics scientists at work
Source: Paradromics
Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region.
Neom is a developing area within northwest Saudi Arabia that’s touted as “a hub for innovation,” according to its website. The area’s strategic investment arm, the Neom Investment Fund, led the partnership. Paradromics declined to disclose the investment amount.
Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.
“Working together, we can accelerate the rate of innovation in BCI and expand access to impactful BCI-based therapies.” Paradromics CEO Matt Angle said in a statement.
Paradromics is one of several companies racing to commercialize BCIs, including Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink. Earlier this month, Neuralink announced it has implanted three human patients with its technology, according to a blog post. Precision Neuroscience and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed Synchron have also implanted their systems in humans.
None of these companies have secured the FDA’s final stamp of approval.
Paradromics’ BCI, the Connexus Direct Data Interface, is an array of tiny electrodes designed to be implanted directly into the brain tissue. The system could eventually help patients with severe paralysis regain their ability to communicate by deciphering their neural signals.
The company is gearing up to launch its first human trial this year, and announced its official patient registry in July. Paradromics’ technology has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it still has a long way to go before commercialization. In 2023, the company received the FDA’s Breakthrough Device designation, which aims to help accelerate the go-to-market process.
Watch: Inside Paradromics, the Neuralink competitor hoping to commercialize brain implants before the end of the decade
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